yellow feathers
by crankyhermit
Summary: You could call it a sequel or offshoot of 'four things'. I like to think of it as Dead Birds Society, wherein everybody gets a dead bird, and then some.
1. nothing here

You've seen this one before. Because H said give Sanzo a dead bird and Karcy said no fair.   
  
_________________________  
  
nothing here  
  
--------------------  
  
A splash of bright colour against drab brown leaves. A tame songbird, doubtless, flown from some sheltered cage with no understanding of the sky and earth it found itself in, as dead as the leaves it lies on.  
  
Had it been alive, it might sing, and fill the air with spring and sunlight. Goku would like it.  
  
It has no meaning to him, and he has no idea why he even noticed the thing, except that Goku would, and Hakkai would give it a solemn little burial for Goku's sake while Gojyo heckled from one side with comments about fried canaries or the like. A source of ungodly noise whether living or dead.  
  
He kicks the bird into the undergrowth, safely out of sight, as the others rejoin him.  
  
--------------------  
  
... 


	2. sunlight on snow

sunlight on snow  
  
--------------------  
  
It shines brightly, even against the stark white of snow.  
  
He remembers when a fragment of the sun had broken from the brightness beyond the bars and hopped into his prison, looking at him with curious eyes. It had sat on his fingers and spoken to him in a language he didn't know, and when he replied, it had merely cocked its little head without comprehension, but that hadn't mattered to either of them.  
  
And he remembers the day when the sun set and its feathered child remained, soft gold against the stark grey stone, until the light was gone, and when the sun rose again it was there still, still as stone. He had tried to reach it then, and tried again until the snow fell and covered what few scraps of gold remained.  
  
Unfettered and with no bars between them, it is still beyond his reach. Goku bows his head against the cold and walks on.  
  
--------------------  
  
... 


	3. broken things

broken things  
  
--------------------  
  
It is too clean, too peaceful, lying there as if in peaceful dreams.  
  
There should have been a broken cage on the ground, with the broken songbird within, spots of red across its tiny body. Not its own blood though, not that it matters.  
  
He has told this story before, of how the robin got its red breast, but the little birds he told it to are broken too. He broke them as he broke their nest, and the blood is their own.  
  
So still it lies, as if asleep, but he harbours no illusions. There is no blood, no broken cage, but it is no less dead for that.  
  
Hakkai smiles, averts his eyes, and thinks about broken things beyond repair.  
  
--------------------  
  
... 


	4. clear sky

clear sky  
  
--------------------  
  
He's never had a pet, though as a child he'd often looked at the cages full of colourful birds as he passed them in the street, and wondered if he could hide one under his bed. It wouldn't be a constant reminder of his presence underfoot, like a cat or dog would be, and it wouldn't be hard to feed, needing only breadcrumbs and seeds.  
  
He would take it with him when he went out to play in the morning, and it would sing, and seem happy in his presence. It would stay with him even when he let it out of its cage, and not go off like Jien sometimes did when he needed space away from his troubled mother and needy little brother. Or it would fly away into the clear sky, free and happy. It would bring a little family to see him when the little birds were fledged and able to fly.  
  
On the ground before him lies a bundle of bright feathers with legs stiffly extended, fallen to cold or hunger. Gojyo is glad he's never had a pet.  
  
--------------------  
  
... 


	5. scenes from a hat

Dead Bird Scenarios That Should Never Have Been Written  
  
_________________________  
  
Sanzo steps on something crunchy, looks down, sees a dead bird and curses. He wipes his boot on Gojyo's head. What Gojyo is doing down there we do not know and shall not explore here.  
  
--------------------  
  
"Fried chicken!" crows Goku in delight, reaching out with grimy hands. Gojyo rescues the chicken just in time, and Hakkai chides.  
  
"Please wash your hands, Goku."  
  
--------------------  
  
A thud against Jeep's bumper, eliciting a "kyuu" of surprise. Hakkai stops Jeep and looks at the dead goose, feeling remorse, and Sanzo mutters what might be a sutra for the dead. The goose is cooked, dinner is served, and they move on.  
  
--------------------  
  
"Quit that or you're dead!" Gojyo snarls and swats at the squawking magpie trying to steal a few crimson strands with which to line its nest -- not for the first time, and possibly not the last. But he doesn't kill the bird, because there are too many dead birds already.  
  
_________________________  
  
... 


End file.
